I have been poking around different parts of my local business development community for several months. It seems to me many communities are missing the boat in terms of attracting investment and innovation as well as achieving sufficient local alignment on business development strategy.
Why isn't there (maybe someone knows of a/the best source?) a directory or some kind of publication of core competencies at the local economic unit basis (county, zip, city) level which is granular enough to attract the specific entrepreneurial level of attention which leads to decisions. Should/would include areas of technical expertise in a granular way (not alternative energy, but rather wind, biodiesel, fuel cell, etc.), commercial expertise (e.g. specific skill sets within market research), and anything else that helps successfully run a business and which can't be equally easily sourced virtually.
Great project for local business schools to take on as part of providing real value added to their local communities?
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
CI and a small contribution to the US healthcare debate
Ever wonder about facts vs. rhetoric of US healthcare reform debate.
The attached is well beyond anything the press, politicians, or townhalls are apparently providing. It's 65 pages but certaintly speaks to many of the issues with substantial bibliography for more study.
Worth reading to inform our townhall assertions.
Take a peak America.
Lot's of the same kinds of "Myth Busting" here that CI professionals constantly encounter.
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL34175_20070917.pdf
The attached is well beyond anything the press, politicians, or townhalls are apparently providing. It's 65 pages but certaintly speaks to many of the issues with substantial bibliography for more study.
Worth reading to inform our townhall assertions.
Take a peak America.
Lot's of the same kinds of "Myth Busting" here that CI professionals constantly encounter.
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL34175_20070917.pdf
Presenting CI - Have a conversation
Shared by SourceSaid on Twitter...good thoughts: http://bit.ly/zjXUv
Thursday, August 13, 2009
CI - the pitfalls of reverse engineering products
When I first started doing CI, an early task was comparing product costs of ours to theirs. Seems sensible right? If they consistently make theirs for less and sell for same price, over time they "win". This is especially important in industry like FMCC where product cost as percent of selling price is substantial, but much less important in industries like pharmaceuticals where it often isn't.
Try these steps/answer these questions:
1) Do you have a current and representative sample of competitors product across regions, product dates, supply points, channels of distribution, etc. Especially important to track supply cycle and purchasing practices if product cost is tied to a highly variable commodity cost...why was Southwest Airlines profitable in 2008 and almost no one else was (they bought crude oil futures)
2) Don't let anyone (in our case it was the junior Financial Analysts) person who doesn't know how you actually make something calculate it. Should be someone who was/is in the business of making these kinds of products and had lots of experience modeling them or was close enough to the technical communities to be able to figure out ranges of accuracy. Form a team or network if you need to.
3) Calculate & analyze in the context of how competition makes it and the supply chain which supports- not how you do it. Often their products are made in a fundamentally different way than yours. This means you first need a deep understanding of their supply points/suppliers and the bio-chemical-mechanical-electrical-IT processes involved. Is their supply chain different...are they more vertically integrated? How important are they to any one supplier and what is condition of supplier? How do they purchase? How do they inventory? How efficient are they? How long/much do they use assets and in what condition are they? How much do they pay people and what is their organization structure? How do they allocate overheads among products? Do they have exclusive supply agreements on any precursor materials (probably cost them more?). Energy and utility costs vary from place to place. Tax structures and incentives vary.
4) Think about the product from a design and R&D perspective. Make sure you look at the inherent trade-offs that are made in the context of market demand and supply chain pricing of precursor materials. In some industries product spec is often tweaked to reflect pricing environment of materials, purchasers needs, competition, etc. Things are often dynamic vs. static. Some things depend on judgement vs. fact. While this has evolved in the past number of years, in my early days perfume costs in FMCC were estimated by the noses of experienced perfumers. Result turned out to be w/i only about 50% accuracy which led in a couple of instances to strategically flawed conclusions.
5) Often times people are assuming economic order quantities which ignore the fact(s) that an ingredient or part that goes into a specific competitor product is also purchased on a much larger scale across multiple businesses or products.
6) Try to break costs out by sku, variant, model to see where their leverage is.
7) Test the end result against market behavior over time.. Does their pricing behavior align with your conclusions? Is their marketing spend consistent with what your model says they can afford? How quickly do they retool or reformulate...is that consistent with the asset base/capability you have assumed?
Thoughts?
Try these steps/answer these questions:
1) Do you have a current and representative sample of competitors product across regions, product dates, supply points, channels of distribution, etc. Especially important to track supply cycle and purchasing practices if product cost is tied to a highly variable commodity cost...why was Southwest Airlines profitable in 2008 and almost no one else was (they bought crude oil futures)
2) Don't let anyone (in our case it was the junior Financial Analysts) person who doesn't know how you actually make something calculate it. Should be someone who was/is in the business of making these kinds of products and had lots of experience modeling them or was close enough to the technical communities to be able to figure out ranges of accuracy. Form a team or network if you need to.
3) Calculate & analyze in the context of how competition makes it and the supply chain which supports- not how you do it. Often their products are made in a fundamentally different way than yours. This means you first need a deep understanding of their supply points/suppliers and the bio-chemical-mechanical-electrical-IT processes involved. Is their supply chain different...are they more vertically integrated? How important are they to any one supplier and what is condition of supplier? How do they purchase? How do they inventory? How efficient are they? How long/much do they use assets and in what condition are they? How much do they pay people and what is their organization structure? How do they allocate overheads among products? Do they have exclusive supply agreements on any precursor materials (probably cost them more?). Energy and utility costs vary from place to place. Tax structures and incentives vary.
4) Think about the product from a design and R&D perspective. Make sure you look at the inherent trade-offs that are made in the context of market demand and supply chain pricing of precursor materials. In some industries product spec is often tweaked to reflect pricing environment of materials, purchasers needs, competition, etc. Things are often dynamic vs. static. Some things depend on judgement vs. fact. While this has evolved in the past number of years, in my early days perfume costs in FMCC were estimated by the noses of experienced perfumers. Result turned out to be w/i only about 50% accuracy which led in a couple of instances to strategically flawed conclusions.
5) Often times people are assuming economic order quantities which ignore the fact(s) that an ingredient or part that goes into a specific competitor product is also purchased on a much larger scale across multiple businesses or products.
6) Try to break costs out by sku, variant, model to see where their leverage is.
7) Test the end result against market behavior over time.. Does their pricing behavior align with your conclusions? Is their marketing spend consistent with what your model says they can afford? How quickly do they retool or reformulate...is that consistent with the asset base/capability you have assumed?
Thoughts?
CI experts?
Doesn't your job as a CI expert seem to be to learn about and connect anything, anywhere, anytime? When people get stuck with figuring "IT" out, don't they come to you or someone like you?
While I realize at any point in time, the remit is much more focused, the essence of CI is increasingly broad and losing definition. Like me, you are seeing discussions of this on numerous blogs, at SCIP, and at your place of (dis)employment.
Expertise is increasingly like herding cats.
You perhaps increasingly resemble the local politician running for and trying to stay in office - or the small business owner. In a world where knowledge is doubling in days, as is the technology for managing and manipulating that, where work is being virtualized, and the essential organization is splintering into more external links or offshore connections as partners/suppliers, you still get to manage "ALL" of it.
Some things to consider doing:
1) Put multi-experienced, interdisciplinary thinkers in these roles.
2) Emphasize a democratic approach wherein the "CI" leader needs to tap the full capability and participation of the organizations they serve.
3) Because "CI" people have to be multidisciplinary to be successful (beyond their functional peers), make sure they are deeply involved in innovation.
4) Create experiential learning for the community you serve...ideation, scenario planning and war gaming, convene real/virtual panels of external experts, multi-functional centers of excellence on specific competitors
5) Volunteer with not-for-profit or business development entities in the community to get a broader perspective and extend your network - and learn to herd cats.
Thoughts?
While I realize at any point in time, the remit is much more focused, the essence of CI is increasingly broad and losing definition. Like me, you are seeing discussions of this on numerous blogs, at SCIP, and at your place of (dis)employment.
Expertise is increasingly like herding cats.
You perhaps increasingly resemble the local politician running for and trying to stay in office - or the small business owner. In a world where knowledge is doubling in days, as is the technology for managing and manipulating that, where work is being virtualized, and the essential organization is splintering into more external links or offshore connections as partners/suppliers, you still get to manage "ALL" of it.
Some things to consider doing:
1) Put multi-experienced, interdisciplinary thinkers in these roles.
2) Emphasize a democratic approach wherein the "CI" leader needs to tap the full capability and participation of the organizations they serve.
3) Because "CI" people have to be multidisciplinary to be successful (beyond their functional peers), make sure they are deeply involved in innovation.
4) Create experiential learning for the community you serve...ideation, scenario planning and war gaming, convene real/virtual panels of external experts, multi-functional centers of excellence on specific competitors
5) Volunteer with not-for-profit or business development entities in the community to get a broader perspective and extend your network - and learn to herd cats.
Thoughts?
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Repost - "Is branding dead"
To discuss with your marketing customers - Is branding dead?
Courtesy of tweet from Franz Dill (his blog is EponymousPickle - highly recommend)
franzdRT @rogerdooley: Is Branding Dead? http://bit.ly/19DeN7 New at Neuromarketing
Courtesy of tweet from Franz Dill (his blog is EponymousPickle - highly recommend)
franzdRT @rogerdooley: Is Branding Dead? http://bit.ly/19DeN7 New at Neuromarketing
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
CI as duct tape
Ever watch the Canadian comedy series (eh!) The Red & Green Show? http://tinyurl.com/l7d7j..many of my new American friends always bring that up when they discover how I say my "o's" and once they realize I'm not from Minnesota.
This show demonstrates amazing makeshift problem solving and technical solutions often times using a large dose of duct tape - a sticky, strong, simple, flexible product.
Duct tape is a great metaphor: easy to find, easy to connect A to B, layers make it stronger, easy to shape, can use for many things (Strategy, Bus Dev, Innovation, Operational Improvements, Marketing Tactics, etc.), comes in basic gray color so it may not stand out, etc.
It's a grass roots, democratic tool anyone can use so get your entire organization doing it. Don't wait for expensive solutions. Rig up back-woods systems that get all the information flowing to you (called relationships), experiment with sticking A to B in different scenarios, and by all means have some fun while you are at it.
I can think of far worse fates than to be called "the duct work guy".
This show demonstrates amazing makeshift problem solving and technical solutions often times using a large dose of duct tape - a sticky, strong, simple, flexible product.
Duct tape is a great metaphor: easy to find, easy to connect A to B, layers make it stronger, easy to shape, can use for many things (Strategy, Bus Dev, Innovation, Operational Improvements, Marketing Tactics, etc.), comes in basic gray color so it may not stand out, etc.
It's a grass roots, democratic tool anyone can use so get your entire organization doing it. Don't wait for expensive solutions. Rig up back-woods systems that get all the information flowing to you (called relationships), experiment with sticking A to B in different scenarios, and by all means have some fun while you are at it.
I can think of far worse fates than to be called "the duct work guy".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
